Bulls fall 118-116 to Pistons in home opener after rallying to tie late in 4th

The tests keep coming for rookie Wendell Carter Jr., from Nikola Jokic in the final preseason game to Joel Embiid in the season opener to Andre Drummond in Saturday night’s home opener.

“It’s his third straight All-Star,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.

The tests also keep coming for a young Bulls team, who employ no All-Stars and who lost to the Pistons 118-116 as Carter’s education continued.

Unfortunately for some, it didn’t continue on a possession that seemed to scream the need for him.

Zach LaVine sank a stone-cold tying 3-pointer with 24.6 seconds left. With the Bulls guaranteed another offensive possession, coach Fred Hoiberg opted against using a defense-offense substitution, leaving Carter on the bench and Jabari Parker on the floor.

Ish Smith, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, shredded the Bulls’ defense for a go-ahead layup with 5.4 seconds left. The Pistons put Parker in a pick-and-roll defense situation, and Smith got past LaVine on the screen and past Parker for an easy two points.

“They were small so we went with the group we felt got us back into that game and gave us a chance to win,” Hoiberg said of his decision.

Carter said he would have loved to play in that situation but respected the decision. Parker exited the locker room without addressing reporters.

“We can’t give up a layup for the last play,” LaVine said. “We at least have to make him take a tough one.”

Photos from the Bulls' 118-116 loss to the Pistons in their home opener Saturday night, Oct. 20, 2018 at the United Center.

LaVine, who joined Bob Love and Michael Jordan as the only Bulls in franchise history to post back-to-back, 30-point games to open the season, then lost control of the ball as he rose for a game-winning 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

“I’m going for the win. That’s just me,” LaVine said. “I thought I could make it. I just made one before that. I can’t let the ball slip out of my hands. That sucks. You at least have to give it a chance.”

As good as LaVine was, Bobby Portis struggled. After scoring 20 points in the opener, Portis missed his first six shots and didn’t crack the scoring column until 8 minutes, 8 seconds remained.

He finished with six points but, to his credit, didn’t let his offensive woes affect his effort. He also had 14 rebounds and five assists. Though, like all Bulls, Portis struggled to contain Blake Griffin, who posted 33 points and 12 rebounds.

As for Carter, there’s a fine line between gaining experience and becoming overwhelmed. And when Carter outplayed Robin Lopez in preseason to earn the starting center spot, the Bulls began walking it.

Carter finished with eight points and two rebounds in 18 foul-plagued minutes, picking up his third before the second quarter reached its midway point. There are going to be such nights for the No. 7 overall pick, who won’t turn 20 until April.

“I just try to take (the opponent’s) name out of it. Just look at them as a player. Look at what they do well and not so well and try to expose their weaknesses,” Carter said. “I try not to focus too much on, ‘Oh, it’s Andre Drummond’ and get caught up in any hype. Just take it down to the X’s and O’s.”

Similar to his performance in Thursday’s season opener, in which Embiid overpowered Carter early before Carter rallied, he acted undeterred by Saturday’s early foul trouble. In the third, he blocked one shot that led to his jumper at the other end and another shot that led to a LaVine transition opportunity.

No one ever will know if he could have added a third block on the Pistons’ final possession.